Fortinet (FTNT) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

Fortinet (FTNT) closed at $87.23 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.8% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500′s 0.37% gain on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.44%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.61%.

Coming into today, shares of the network security company had gained 17.48% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector gained 0.81%, while the S&P 500 gained 1.82%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from FTNT as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be October 25, 2018. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.42, up 50% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $451.02 million, up 20.52% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $1.67 per share and revenue of $1.78 billion, which would represent changes of +60.58% and +18.85%, respectively, from the prior year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for FTNT should also be noted by investors. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company’s business and profitability.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. FTNT is holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) right now.

Digging into valuation, FTNT currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 52.74. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 64.23, which means FTNT is trading at a discount to the group.

Also, we should mention that FTNT has a PEG ratio of 3.15. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company’s expected earnings growth rate. The Security industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 3.33 as of yesterday’s close.

The Security industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 24, which puts it in the top 9% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report